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What are CPF and CNPJ?
CPF and CNPJ are tax-identification registers run by Brazil’s federal revenue service (Receita Federal do Brasil). CPF is for natural persons; CNPJ is for companies and other legal entities. They are not card numbers and not a payment system. Banks, invoice desks and Pix often ask for one of them.
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Reviewed 14 October 2026
What is a CPF?
Receita Federal’s CPF Q&A defines the Cadastro de Pessoas Físicas as a national database of cadastral data on Brazilian and foreign individuals, residents and non-residents. The Meu CPF page adds that the number is unique and permanent, that there is no minimum age, and that Brazilians and foreigners may enrol in Brazil or abroad.
The same page says enrolment, consultation and updates are free of charge. The number identifies the person and stores name, date of birth, address and other registration data. If you do not know your number, take a photo ID to a Receita Federal office. Statuses listed there include Regular, Suspenso (incomplete or incorrect data), Pendente de Regularização (missing tax returns), Falecido, Cancelado and Nulo (for example after fraud). Use today’s official result.
What is a CNPJ?
The Cadastro Nacional da Pessoa Jurídica is Receita Federal’s register of companies and other private and public entities. Official guidance separates head-office (matriz) and branch (filial) filings and offers a certificate of enrolment and status. A CNPJ identifies the legal entity; it does not replace a person’s CPF.
Receita Federal’s alphanumeric CNPJ page says new enrolments from July 2026 receive an alphanumeric CNPJ; existing numbers stay valid and unchanged. The Central Bank DICT documentation treats a CNPJ used as a Pix key as 14 characters including check digits, which may now include letters. This page does not treat the older all-digit form as the only current format.
How do they differ, and when is each used?
CPF identifies a person. CNPJ identifies a legal entity. Personal accounts, personal tax filings and many personal Pix keys use a CPF. Company accounts, invoices and business collections use a CNPJ. Mixing the two fields is a common reason a form is rejected. This site cannot see a bank’s or merchant’s check.
Neither code is a cross-border routing number. Pix may use a CPF or CNPJ as a payee key, but settlement runs on the Central Bank’s instant-payment arrangement, not SWIFT. This site’s SWIFT lookup cannot validate a CPF or CNPJ.
How do you verify them with Receita Federal?
Individuals should use the CPF consultation and certificate services published by Receita Federal, not an unrelated third-party form. Legal entities should use the official CNPJ enrolment and status certificate. This page does not run a lookup and does not store identification numbers.
paytools.dev is not a Brazilian tax authority or bank. Fees, appointment rules and office lists follow the official text of the day. Unpublished figures stay unknown here.
Questions and answers
- Is a CPF the same as a passport?
- No. A CPF is Receita Federal’s individual register number. A passport is a travel document. Foreigners may hold a CPF; that does not replace a passport.
- Can a company operate with only a CPF?
- CNPJ is the legal-entity register. Whether a given activity must enrol a CNPJ follows Receita Federal and state rules. This page does not decide individual cases.
- Are older numeric CNPJs still valid after 2026?
- Receita Federal says existing numbers remain valid. The alphanumeric format is assigned to new enrolments from July 2026.
Official pages to verify
Sources and review
Facts follow Receita Federal’s Meu CPF, CPF Q&A, CNPJ register and alphanumeric-CNPJ pages, plus the Central Bank DICT description of 14-character CNPJ keys. Reviewed 14 October 2026. Official texts can change.